4-year-old cousins involved in tragic shooting 'might as well have been twins'

2:24 PM,
Jan. 20, 2014

Adrian Tubbs, 23, and fiancÚ Jamel Witcher Sr., 24, sit in the bedroom of their son Jamel, 4, who police say was shot and killed Thursday by a cousin, also 4. They say they are disturbed at the easy access the children had to a loaded gun.

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The 4-year-old cousins are smiling in a family photograph, their arms around each other.

The precocious children, who went to the same school and saw each other all the time, could have been siblings, loved ones say.

But a loaded rifle, left within reach of the children, has separated them in what appears to be an avoidable tragedy. According to police, the 4-year-old girl found the gun Thursday near a bed, picked it up and fired, shooting her cousin. ...